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Meat Loaf

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About

Some people think big. Some people think huge. And then there's Meat Loaf.
For the past 35 years, the man born Marvin Lee Aday has been a towering monument on the musical landscape.  His legendary 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell transformed this former high school football player, nightclub bouncer and stage actor into one of the great American rock 'n' roll icons. That record, with its staggering operatic sound and impassioned vocals, has sold more than 43 million albums worldwide - still one of the biggest-selling records ever.
Meat Loaf's reputation as one of music's greatest artists was underlined by such masterpieces as Dead Ringer (1981), Bad Attitude (1984) and the Bat Out Of Hell sequels Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1993) and Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006). Other artists might have tried to match his scale and copy his sound, but no one has come close.
Now, more than 30 years after he exploded onto the world stage, Meat Loaf is back with a new record, Hang Cool Teddy Bear (a title taken from a line in the classic Russ Meyer trash movie Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls). From opener "Peace On Earth" to closer "Elvis In Vegas," its 13 tracks drag the classic Meat Loaf sound kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
"I wanted it big, I wanted it dramatic, I wanted a rock record," says Meat Loaf. "Yes, it sounds like a Meat Loaf record. But it sounds different too - it sounds new, it sounds fresh. It speaks to you in a different way."
Much of this newfound energy can be put down to Meat Loaf's working relationship with his new collaborator, producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance Paramore, Fleetwood Mac). For the singer, it was a chance to work with one of the hottest producers around. For Cavallo, it was an opportunity to work with a childhood hero and a proper rock 'n' roll legend.
"Rob is the Number 1 rock producer in the world because he leaves his ego out of the equation and gives an artist his voice, making it sound better than the artist could even imagine," says Meat. "I was like a fisherman looking for a big mouthed bass. I put on the right worm. The first song I played to him, I hooked him. The second song, I nailed him."
The pair hit it off immediately, and this electrifying creative partnership immediately raised the bar several feet. Meat Loaf brought more than 40 songs to the table, which the duo whittled down to the 13 that appear on the final record, including the furious "Living On The Outside" and hilarious first single "LosAngeloser."
But there was one other piece to the jigsaw: Los Angeles-based screenwriter and director Kilian Kerwin, a long-time friend of the singer. As with every classic Meat Loaf album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear has a bigger concept. It was one of Kerwin's short stories that inspired the singer to come up with the album's striking narrative.
"It's the story of a soldier," reveals Meat Loaf. "He's been in battle and he's lying face down on the ground. He can't move, but he turns his head and starts to see blood run across the ground, and so he thinks he's going to die. They always say you see your life flash backwards you when you're about to die. But his life flashes forward - into what possibly could happen. He sees what his life could be - the good and the bad. The songs are the different scenarios he finds himself in. It's not always the same time or the same place - but it's always the same woman. But I don't want to give too much away - I want people to work it out for themselves."
To flesh out his vision, Meat Loaf enlisted a set of elite musicians to play on the album, including guitarists Tim Pierce, Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins (who co-wrote two songs for the album), Paul Crook and Randy Flowers, legendary bass players Chris Chaney and Kasim Sulton, genius keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac and the world's greatest rock drummer (just ask Rob Cavallo) John Micelli.  Hang Cool Teddy Bear also features a stellar array of big-name guests, including Steve Vai (who appears on "Love is Not Real"), former Queen guitarist Brian May (who appears on "Song Of Madness" and "Love Is Not Real"), American Idol presenter Kara DioGuardi (who co-wrote and sings on "If I Can't Have You") and Hollywood star Jack Black, who duets with Meat Loaf on "Like A Rose."
But the most surprising guest is Hugh Laurie - the English actor famous for starring in Blackadder and hit US TV show House. It was while making a guest appearance on the latter that Meat Loaf met Laurie and discovered that he was a classically-trained pianist. What else could he do but ask the actor to play piano on the song "If I Can't Have You?"
"He was really nervous at first," recalls Meat Loaf. "It was strange seeing someone so confident on a TV set walk into the studio like he's a quivering mess. But he nailed it. He's talking about playing it with us if we ever go on American Idol."
"What I love about Hugh, Jack and Kara," says Meat Loaf, "is that sometimes you get people coming to the studio, and they have their manager and a bodyguard and an entourage - it's this endless stream of people. The three of them, they just drove up to the studio in their own cars, no bullsh*t no fronts, just real people.  And I love real people."
But for all the star guests, Hang Cool Teddy Bear is Meat Loaf's album - his own dirty little secret. More than four decades into his career, the man - and his voice - is as big, bold and important as ever.
"How do I keep the fire burning?" he asks. "I don't know. I just do. I'd bet in advance that if I sat with somebody in a room and said to them, 'I'll give you five pounds if you don't go 'Whoah!' after the first song', they'd forget about the five pounds and they'd go 'Whoah!' You can't help it. And it's like that across all the songs. This record is spectacular!"

Reviews

Rating: 3.6 out of 5 based on 1824 reviews
  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Bad Show

    by Anonymous on 5/28/16Sands Bethlehem Event Center - Bethlehem

    His voice was gone. I wouldn't go again or recommend anyone to go. I saw him 5 years ago and it was night and day.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5

    Meatloaf was awesome

    by mickeyusmc on 5/28/16Sands Bethlehem Event Center - Bethlehem

    for someone pushing 70 he rocked it. put on a great show

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Meatloaf was the best!!!!

    by Anonymous on 5/28/16Sands Bethlehem Event Center - Bethlehem

    Concert was amazing. Meatloaf played longer as he had to cancel in March due to flu. I just wish he could have had meet and greet, that would have topped the cake

  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Meatloaf should retire

    by Trigger84 on 5/28/16Sands Bethlehem Event Center - Bethlehem

    Meatloaf can't hit the high notes anymore and struggles just to be heard. The women who performs with him saves the day. He's probably eight years past when the should've retired.

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Worst show ever

    by 1Roaddog on 5/28/16Sands Bethlehem Event Center - Bethlehem

    I left during the 3rd song. It was without a doubt the worst performance I have experienced. Could not here him sing which turned out to be a blessing.

  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Hope his voice is normally better

    by Trip777 on 5/28/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Meat Loaf's voice was tired. Maybe a sore throat or just too many shows. Giving him the benefit, but this show disappointed me some. Seemed like the audience didn't care and had a good time regardless. He definitely gives it his all, regardless of sound.

  • Rating: 2 out of 5

    Sunday's Meat Loaf concert @ Rocksino

    by LakeEriePaddler on 5/28/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    In a word: Disappointing. While he worked hard at performing his support crew undermined his performance. I heard not one chord from his guitar when he played. If his band's microphones and instrument pick-ups were turned up to 10, his personal microphone was at about a six. In short, the balance given us by his audio engineers and other support combined to make the whole concert disappointing. I don't need to repeat. Recommendation: Keep your mental image of what his concert would be, don't damage it by actually spending the time and money to see it.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Meatloaf was AWESOME!!!

    by Anonymous on 5/27/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Very enjoyable concert!!! Meatloaf was very apologetic for the rescheduling, which was no problem for us. Very glad to have him come to such a fine place. As like a lot of older musicians, he still puts on a great concert!!

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Don't waste your time

    by Doug8020 on 5/27/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Band was way too loud. They were compensating for his total inability to sing. The girl was great and carried the show. Without her the show would have been a total bust. It's time for Meatloaf to retire.

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Best of the worst

    by PutneySwope on 5/27/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    I have been to hundreds of shows and Meatloaf was, to the best of my memory, the worst of them all. He sounded awful. If he was in key, it was completely accidental. There were songs I knew that I did not even recognize until the chorus, when the rest of the band would sing. I hope his band is being paid well. If I were a member I would use a fake name to avoid being associated with this train wreck of a "performer." I felt bad for the band. They knew the songs much better than Mr. Loaf. He was also borderline hostile to the audience, leering at us and angry because the crowd kept sitting back down after he indicated for them to stand. This occurred several times. With the price of tickets compared to the awfulness of his singing, he should have been satisfied that people remained in the room instead of running out to find the manager to demand a refund or hitting the slot machines in an attempt to recoup the almost hundred bucks per ticket. I could only endure 45 minutes of it. There is something to be said for living fast and dying young...

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Meatloaf - not "AGAIN" - PLEASE

    by Disappointedx172 on 5/27/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Back up singers and musicians were great. If I didnt know the words to the songs I wouldnt have known which one Marvin was singing. His (very) off key singing ruined most of the concert. He was obnoxious - flipping off the audience and telling us "F**K you!" was not necessary. He is, in his own words," F*****G 68 years old! " which tells me "It's time to retire, honey."

  • Rating: 5 out of 5

    Meatloaf an all star classic

    by Robini59 on 5/26/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Seats were good, loved the screens. All in all had an amazing time...

  • Rating: 4 out of 5

    Meatloaf is unforgettable

    by SCL37 on 5/26/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Always the best show ever! Meatloaf never fails to entertain!

  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Put a fork in it the Meat Loaf is done...

    by memyselfa on 5/26/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    He's not a kid and it shows in his voice....The band was great the girl singer fabulous (and smoking hot too)...But he just couldn't sing as well as he used to...

  • Rating: 2 out of 5

    meat loaf -- a sad night

    by bill615 on 5/26/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    possibly one of the worst concerts i've ever attended. sadly, meat had no voice. he claimed he had had the flu just 2 days earlier. not sure if it was the flu or if meat can no longer sing. the band was lackluster. i did like the drummer and the piano player was very good. the female role was "ok". she has a nice voice, but just does not quite have the strength needed to for the role. she did blow meat away. he also played almost 2 hours by my clock. sat in the last row which was fine, but for the price of the ticket and quality of the show......i was totally ripped off. i was REALLY excited for the show. that was my 4th or 5th show over the years, and i didn't even recognize 3 hits until the chorus started.

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Meat Loaf

    by MeatLoafFan123456 on 5/25/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    This was undoubtedly the worst concert I've ever gone to. The band was so loud that you could not hear Meat Loaf singing. Maybe 1 word in 10. Requests to the venue people to adjust the levels were ignored. A request to the sound board operator was met with a shrug. I have been a long time fan of Meat Loaf's and drove over 2 hours for this concert. A total waste of time. Phil

  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Hard to Mention

    by SadlyAnnoyed on 5/25/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    I had seen Meat Loaf numerous times when I was younger and thought it would be a hoot to rehash old high school memories and catch his show. For the amount of money tickets cost today the least they could do was invest in a better sound system! You couldn't understand a thing they were singing and I have seen numerous bands at the Rocksino and know they have the ability to kick ass with sound and clarity. The band did its best to cover the off key, late lyrics and unsynchronized ability of Meat Loaf himself. Although he gave it a great try, it appeared he had a hard time keeping up, was out of breath most of the time and walking across the stage like he just ran a 10K. I do give him a A+ for effort but really??? We had good time regardless but was very disappointed. Sad thing was...We went to catch a band in a little dive bar for FREE the following night that has been around as long as Meat Loaf and the music was better!! Maybe they should have played the Rocksino!!

  • Rating: 1 out of 5

    Love his music but time for him to retire

    by Sadmeatloaffandisappointe on 5/25/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    It was painful to see such a great artist not able to perform the music anymore. Sorry Meat but its time for you to retire. Just know that we will always love your music it is one of a kind!

  • Rating: 3 out of 5

    Meatloaf is a shadow of his old self

    by Lilirishstar on 5/25/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Meatloaf was made famous by a couple of long romantic ballads. His voice is basically gone. It is deep and raspy. Could not understand any of the words he was shouting. He believes he is some bad ass hard rocker. His only interaction with the audience is when he gave us the finger because we were not singing loud enough. Thankfully his band is very good and the female singer was really good. Don't waste your money on this sad performance.

  • Rating: 2 out of 5

    Been to better concerts.

    by AlCl on 5/25/16Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park Hard Rock Live - Northfield

    Music was to loud for the venue. Meat loaf put more effort into acting like a badass than a singer. He screamed the music rather than singing it like he did on his albums.